Closets are supposed to keep your life clean and organized, but every so often they can get chaotic and messy. Letting your closet get like this defeats the purpose of having an organizing system in the first place. If you’ve spent a considerable amount of time, effort, and money putting together a custom organization system, you shouldn’t let it go to waste. That can be easier said than done. You might need some cleaning closet tips to know how to clean a closet and keep it in good order. So, if you’re struggling to keep your closets clean and organized, then check out these cleaning closet ideas to help you put things back to how they should be.

First, make cleaning your closets a routine. Don’t worry, if you’re unsure of what kinds of products to use or what to do, we’ll teach you how to clean a closet. For general upkeep, we recommend using a non-oily cleanser to remove dust, fingerprints, smudges, and other imperfections. Follow this up by wiping everything down with a damp, clean cloth and then follow this up with a dry, clean cloth. It’s crucial that every part of your closet is dry when you’re done cleaning, as moisture can cause damage to any laminate surface. Ensuring everything is dry when you’ve finished is arguably the most important step because of just how damaging moisture can be to laminate.

When learning how to clean a closet, it’s just as important for you to know what not to use as it is to learn what to use. When it comes to cleaning closets, you should never use a product that contains any of the following substances: acetone, chloroform, amyl acetate, ammonia, benzene, butyl acetate, butyl alcohol, carbon tetrachloride, caustic soda, cellu-solve, halogenated solvents, chlorinated solvents, cresols/phenols, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, gasoline, glacial acetate acid, ketones, thinners, methyl alcohol, methyl ethyl ketone, toluene or xylene. We also recommend you avoid any heavy-duty cleaners that are known to be abrasive or acidic, oven or rust cleaners. Also, never use steel wool to clean laminate. Additionally, you should steer clear of using products that contain a lot of oil because they can make closets hard to dry off and leave streak marks.

A clean closet is great, but a clean and organized closet is even better. The first step to getting a closet organized is to pull everything out so you can assess how much room you have to work with and what things you had stored in it previously. This will also let you easily access all the places that need cleaning. Once you’ve removed everything from the closet, separate it into four separate piles – keep, give away/donate, wash, and throw out. From there, sort the items in the “keep” pile such that similar items can be stored together. This will keep you much more organized because you’ll always know where things are and exactly where to put them back.

Depending on how much you decide to give away or toss out, you may need to get creative with your storage space. Using over-the-door shelving is a smart way to seemingly create storage space from nothing. You can also look for empty spaces on the walls to add hooks or pocket organizers on rods. There’s no way to create an extra room out of thin air, but these cleaning closet ideas will help you optimize the space you have available.

Want some more cleaning closet tips? Or maybe you need a custom storage solution to help you get the most out of your existing storage space. Regardless, contact the organizational experts at Closet America today to learn more about how we hel